4.11.2013

Anthony rivera asks for sentence modification

Intro Anthony Rivera :

This is not about parole. Anthony is a nonviolent offender. He is also addicted to drugs and alcohol and cannot get the treatment he needs while in prison. As he explains here, in May , he will be petitioning the court for release under a law that allows for the release of non violent offenders who have served a minimum of 75 % their sentences. Anthony asks that he be put immediately in a treatment program upon release. He has strong support of family and girlfriend , and expects a bright future if given this chance.

This is quite a story and I recommend reading it- it tells of the failings of the entire system and I hope the courts get a good view through it what is actually happening in our taxpayer paid institutions.

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Anthony Rivera

WSPF

Po Box 9900

Boscobel, Wi 53805

PETITION FOR SENTENCE ADJUSTMENT

PURSUANT TO §973.1193 Wis. Stats .

I am petitioning the Court for a sentence adjustment because I have served 75% of my confinement on each of my cases; which allows me the opportunity to request relief on my sentences under §973.195 Wis. Stats.

This petition is a bit more than simply a request for early re­lease, because I am asking for more than my release from prison. In fact, I would like to make a proposal to the Court; in doing so, I will explain certain conditions within the prison system, along with particular issues I've personally been dealing with insofar as my addiction to cocaine and my ongoing struggle with alcohol.

My overall conduct history while in custody is moderate. If you take the time to review my conduct history, you will notice that the majority of my conduct reports are due to either the use of drugs or alcohol, or to attempts to get drugs for my own personal use. I was in denial of my addiction for quite a long time, but I have matured over the past several years, and come to realize that I clearly have a drug and alcohol problem. Because of my addiction problems, I have AODA treatment needs which I am currently on the waiting list for, I also had educational needs, which I successfully fulfilled in November, 2011, when 1 earned my H.S.E.D at Green Bay Correctional Inst.

Due to good behavior and the achievement of significant program needs, I was transferred from a maximum to a medium security facility. More importantly,it was a facility that has the AODA program which I need; unlike the maximum security facility I was previously housed in. Once I arrived at the "medium" facility, I spoke with the social work­er about my being placed in the AODA program because a new program was due to starting the "near future." Unfortunately, I was told that 1 would be placed, on the "waiting list because there were other inmates who had the same AODA program need, whose release dates were sooner than mine. To my further misfortune, within 90 days of my arrival I was taken to segregation for drinking, possessing alcohol, and at­tempting to have cocaine brought into the facility.

Rather than offering me the help I clearly need, I was transferred to a supermax facility, and then staffed to a maximum facility—where there are no AODA treatment programs.

Drugs and alcohol are plentiful throughout the entire Wisconsin pri­son system, and I am struggling to stay clean and avoid temptation. I feel that I am not being offered (in a timely manner) the help I need from the Department of Corrections. Instead, I'm being confined to segregation for years at a time, and being shipped back and forth between prisons that can't offer me the help I need. Frankly,I feel that the prison system is failing to help meet my AODA needs, and to offer me the treatment I clearly need, by treating the AODA pro­gram as if it were a privilege rather than a need.

I clearly have an addiction, problem and I am perfectly willing to accept help(treatment) but I've been in custody for over five-and-a-half years , and still haven't gotten AODA treatment. The message the Department of Corrections seems to be sending me and others is that we have-to walk a fine behavioral line and "earn" treatment, or just quit cold turkey, to simply become "eligible" for AODA treatment. Because once weget to a facility that offers treatment, we still have to be placed on a lengthy waiting list, and meet a stringent set of criteria, before we are given an opportunity for treatment. With all due respect, if I could walk that fine a line on my own, for an extended amount of time, I wouldn’t have a need for a treatment program. I would already have the tools and resources necessary to successfully manage my addic­tion, I need a treatment program in the very near future, not a year or more down the road.

I believe it is in the best interest of justice, for both myself and the community, to release me from prison on monitored-supervision, so that I can be quickly placed in a community based residential treat­ment program. Or, at the very least, be placed in a minimum security facility, where I would have almost immediate access to a treatment program—and be released to my family upon completion of the program.

I am not a "violent offender," in fact, I've never been convicted of a violent offense. I’m not a threat to either myself or the commun­ity , and my escape history is classified as "low". I'm not a flight risk, at any rate.

By the time I Completed the treatment program, I would have more than 75% of my sentences served on each case. I have employment wait­ing for me upon release. I have a strong support network of family and friends, including my girlfriend, who have all stood by my side since the beginning of my incarceration. They have changed, their place of residence (my family and my girlfriend), so that I might have a fair chance of success upon my release—I will no longer reside in Milwau­kee.

I will be going home to my family in either Appleton or Menasha. I have yet to make up my mind; however I will be starting fresh with either choice. I have nine years of extended supervision, all I need is an opportunity to receive AODA treatment for my addictions.

Quite frankly, if I'm denied early release and am kept in my cur­rent situation, I will be unlikely to get the AODA treatment I so des­perately need prior to reaching my Mandatory-Release date in 25 months months.

The option I am proposing is in the full interest of justice for both society and myself. Furthermore, it should be noted that both of my firearm possession cases are,(in my opinion, at least) the very least statutory firearm possession charges one can have. Neither case involved my being in possession of an actual firearm; the charges were based on photographs of me holding firearms. I took full responsi­bility for my actions, and I believe I have served my punishment.

Enclosed you will find written affidavits from my family members and my girlfriend, along with a copy of my H.S.E.D.

Irespectfully ask that the Court consider my request for treat­ment and my release from prison; and that the Court acknowledge the fact that I am a non-violent offender. 1 meet all the required criteria for an early release, and I have served 75% of my confinement on each charge. Thank you for your time and attention in this matter.

This blog is a companion to our Parole web page. Wisconsin has 2887 prisoners who are eligible for parole but are denied year after year. We are part of a campaign to see that these people get a second chance. They are all long past their parole dates. We want to spread the message loud and clear that people DO Change. Below are some of the stories and profiles of the many people stuck in a broken and wasteful system.